The Nebraska football team came away with a victory on Thursday's season opener over Cincinnati, 20-17. As most coaches would tell you, "It's better to correct mistakes after a win, then after a loss".
That much is certain. The fact that Nebraska is 1-0 after playing a Power 4 team in week one, speaks volumes. A game like this in past seasons would most certainly have led to a loss. However, there are some problems that the Huskers have to address heading into their Week 2 matchup against Akron.
Nebraska football needs to find an RB2 & RB3
Nebraska's first team running back, Emmett Johnson, carried way too heavy of a load. Coach Rhule said, "I didn't like that, but that was Dana's call", at his Monday press conference. The fact is, going forward, the Huskers will need to get running backs, Mekhi Nelson, Izaiah Mozee, and Kwinten Ives, ready for action once the Big Ten conference slate comes along.
The 3 main backups need to get significant playing time in the upcoming weeks, so that the coaches can have some confidence in them to give Johnson a rest, here and there. We cannot have another season like 2022, when that coaching staff played Anthony Grant too many snaps in back to back games during the Big Ten conference schedule, that year. Grant was absolutely ran into the ground, and the running game went with him when that happened.
The left tackle position needs to be solidified
The old saying in football is, "If you have 2 Quarterbacks, you have none". Well, what about 3 Left Tackles? Nebraska had a revolving door at the left tackle spot against Cincinnati. Three players played a total of 82 snaps, with 4 of those plays where the Huskers had an extra tackle in the game. Portal addition, Junior - Elijah Pritchett had the most snaps, at 33. Sixth year Senior - Turner Corcoron, had 26 snaps, and Redshirt Sophomore - Gunnar Gottula, had 23 snaps.
The other four positions on the line, all had 78 snaps for the starters, with no changes. Cohesion on the line is paramount, so going into Akron, don't be surprised if we have all 3 guys continue to rotate. Until one of those guys separates themselves, the trust isn't there. Offensive Line Coach, Donovan Raiola, has his work cut out for him, as all 3 players had some breakdowns against the Bearcats.
Special teams were better, but not up to Nebraska standards
Most people that watched the game thought the special teams were much better. And they were right...and wrong! Nebraska was 2 for 2 in Field Goal attempts and made a 52-yarder. That part was better. The punting was also improved. The Bearcats got 0 punt return yards, and 2 of Archie Wilson's punts were kicked out of bounds inside the 10-yard line.
That part was better. But according to Coach Rhule, other parts of the special teams units still need some work. The kickoffs were OK, but there was a kickoff that went out of bounds, and gave Cincinnati great field position to start that particular drive. And then there were the kickoff and punt returns. Both Rhule & Coach Ekeler thought they could've gotten more out of those parts of the special teams units.
Rhule liked that we fielded the punt returns, but thought that Jacory Barney was close to breaking one. At his press conference, Rhule said, "Special teams were good, but they just weren't at the level...We didn't make any game-breaking plays...it can be way better"! Rhule also said that Coach Ekeler "Got after the guys", in practice!
It's always better to nitpick things after a Nebraska football win. There were also some very good things that happened in Nebraska's season opener. Dylan Raiola was 33 of 42 for 243 yards, and no interceptions. Emmett Johnson ran for over 100 yards, and Nebraska's new portal Wide Receivers each had 6 catches and 1 TD apiece. So, even though there were mistakes made, we're still 1-0, and that's what matters most!